Frohliche Neue Jahr Michelle! (couldn't resist, my German is very rusty...excuse the absence of umlauts, was being lazy).
If you read Apple's fine print on their warranty terms and condition (which are presented to you when you try and book a warranty repair on their website), several things are apparent. 1. You must pay AU $20 or so dollars for shipping back to them. Now, I can ship this iPod mini back to Apple much cheaper than that...under the Trade Practices Act, it is ILLEGAL for a manufacturer to charge more for shipping than what it is in reality. Like most big companies world wide, it seems that Apple seems to be immune to laws that affect the rest of us mere mortals... 2. Apple's fine print also says that they reserve the right to charge you AU $100 if they cannot fault the unit. Now, working in the industry, not all faults are easy to find. Intermittent faults in electronic devices are very common, and are very hard to spot, let alone trace. I was not prepared to pay Apple's 'sign this warranty agreement and agree to our unfair terms and services or don't get your iPod fixed'. I chose the latter. The iPod minis batteries are deliberately designed by Apple to have a very short finite lifespan. Worse, the replacement battery is so heavily overcharged by Apple as to make it better to just buy a new unit...this is very bad practice imho. Furthermore, it's not good for the environment as it encourages a throw away society. Replacement batteries for Apple iPod minis are available for much cheaper from the Internet etc, but repairing the units is particularly tricky for the average person. Most people do not read the fine print; they just click and accept whatever license flashes up on the screen etc. I like to read what I'm agreeing to. I was going to file an official complaint with the ACCC over this, but in the end I said **** it. It wasn't worth my time, anger or brain power to do so, especially when the system is designed to protect these bastards and screw the consumers. Our government system, as well as that of most 'modern' developed countries are despicable, pandering to corporate business at the expense of everything else. I prefer not to try and worry too much about these things now, because in the end, 95% of our population are just dumb zombies without a single original thought. This is, of course, what governments want - mindless zombies are much easier to control than people like me. Cheers, Dave Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. --Martin Luther King Jr. -----Original Message----- From: Michelle Konzack [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, 9 January 2007 7:57 PM To: debian-laptop@lists.debian.org Subject: Re: iTunes & Linux (Debian) Hello David and *, first of all Happy new Year! Am 2006-12-28 08:29:05, schrieb David Pastern: > seriously looking at buying one. My iPod Mini died in the ass after > around 9 months of usage and I was NOT prepared to accept Apple's > illegal warranty agreement. Sadly, being the lazy bastard that I am, I I am courious about what you mean... Can you explain please? Thanks, Greetings and nice Day Michelle Konzack Systemadministrator Tamay Dogan Network Debian GNU/Linux Consultant -- Linux-User #280138 with the Linux Counter, http://counter.li.org/ ##################### Debian GNU/Linux Consultant ##################### Michelle Konzack Apt. 917 ICQ #328449886 50, rue de Soultz MSM LinuxMichi 0033/6/61925193 67100 Strasbourg/France IRC #Debian (irc.icq.com)
